American Idol's Phillip Phillips Releases First Single Since Legal Battle: 'It Feels So Good to Have This Song Out'

The American Idol season 11 winner released his new single “Miles” on Friday, his first since settling a lawsuit against the show’s producer 19 Entertainment.

“It has been a tough three years, but it feels so good to have this song out,” Phillips, 26, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “We have so much more to come.”

In January 2015, Phillips filed a petition with the California Labor Commissioner to get out of his contract, claiming that 19 Entertainment and its affiliated companies “manipulated” him.

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To Phillips, “Miles” is representative of his journey to now being able to put his legal drama behind him and share new music.

“My wife has definitely been a big support and the song is really about [us] because she was with me through all of this these past few years,” Phillips says of his longtime love Hannah Blackwell, whom he married in October 2015. “It’s about sticking together, powering through and getting to this point that we’re at right now.”